Press Release
New Vena Research Finds FP&A Teams Are Hitting a Maturity Ceiling as Decision Latency Slows Business Response
A survey of over 400 finance professionals finds FP&A teams are at an inflection point, with fragmented data and limited operational alignment stalling their ability to help organizations act decisively amid volatile business conditions. TORONTO – June 2, 2026 — Vena, the Microsoft-native platform for Orchestrated Planning, Decisioning and Close, today released its 2026 FP&A Impact Report. Based on a survey of 431 finance professionals conducted in October 2025 in partnership with research analyst firm Benchmarkit, the report reveals that while FP&A teams are being asked to play a more strategic role and accelerate AI adoption, most are still constrained by fragmented data, limited operational visibility and a lack of real-time alignment across the business. The findings paint a picture of a profession at an inflection point. Finance leaders are confident in their strategic value, yet the self-reported data tells a more complicated story. And even among the most mature FP&A teams, the report finds that decision latency—the gap between when an insight is available and when the business can act on it—remains a challenge. “The most forward-thinking FP&A teams understand that the value they create isn’t just in delivering reports, but in helping the business act on the insights they uncover,” said Melissa Howatson, Chief Financial Officer at Vena. “What this year’s report makes clear is that without solving the underlying data and collaboration challenges, even the most ambitious finance teams will hit a ceiling. The path forward requires Finance to better orchestrate people, processes, data and AI so insights can move through the organization into timely, coordinated action.” Key Findings from the 2026 FP&A Impact Report Include: Forecast Accuracy and Delivery Timelines Raise Concerns More than half of organizations report revenue forecast variances greater than 6%, signaling gaps in data, cross-functional alignment and real-time visibility. What’s more, 45% of respondents said it takes their FP&A team a week or more to deliver a decision-ready forecast when market conditions change unexpectedly, impacting their organization’s ability to move quickly. FP&A Business Partnering Is Happening at the Surface Level, Without Full Operational Context 43% of survey respondents cite limited alignment with other business units as a top bottleneck, making it the second-most-reported obstacle impeding FP&A. Only 34% of organizations have fully integrated operational drivers such as unit sales, headcount and marketing spend into their financial forecasting models, signaling a meaningful gap in working context. Data Quality Is Still the #1 Challenge — For the Second Year Running Data quality and availability were cited as a top bottleneck by 58% of respondents, making it the most-reported obstacle for FP&A teams and consistent with the top challenges uncovered in Vena's 2025 annual report. As a result, finance leaders are taking action: 48% named "improve data integration across systems" as their top priority for the next year, amplified further by pressures to adopt AI. Without a governed source of unified data, finance teams will struggle to realize value from AI transformation efforts. AI Mandates Are Outpacing Data Readiness AI has become a C-suite priority, with 70% of respondents reporting mandates from executive leadership to adopt AI in the finance organization. Yet, 51% of respondents report only moderate or limited integration between their FP&A tools and source systems, raising serious questions about whether their data foundation is ready to support large-scale AI adoption. Looking ahead, 37% of respondents expect more than half of their FP&A workflows to be fully operated by AI agents within the next two years. Most Executives Still Don’t View FP&A as a Growth Driver When asked how their executives perceive the FP&A function, only 9% of respondents answered "critical drivers of growth." Meanwhile, 61% said leadership views their team as a "transactional/reporting function" or "reliable advisors on financials," signaling a gap between the strategic potential FP&A can deliver and how the rest of the business actually sees them. The report comes against a backdrop of significant macroeconomic pressure, with global trade uncertainty increasing the urgency for FP&A teams to guide their business from insight to execution faster. At Vena’s recent annual industry conference, Excelerate Finance Fest, Melissa Howatson explored how finance teams can move beyond planning cycles by orchestrating people, processes, data and AI so insights can translate into quick, decisive action in a volatile business environment. Watch Melissa’s keynote on demand. To download the full report, visit venasolutions.com/resources/fpa-impact-report. About Vena Vena is a Microsoft-native platform for orchestrated planning, decisioning and close across Microsoft Excel, Power BI, Azure and Fabric. With a governed, AI-ready data foundation and agentic AI embedded in the flow of work, Vena helps organizations move from insight to action, make better decisions and execute on time with confidence. Thousands of organizations worldwide rely on Vena to perform better and achieve more. For more information, visit venasolutions.com. Media Contact Jonathan Paul Vice President, Content Marketing jpaul@venacorp.com
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